Facebook owned Security App used to spy on competitors

It’s clearly now a matter of when Facebook will likely be summoned next over their issue with the use of users’ data and privacy lingers. 

A report by a Commons committee has given a detailed report on Facebook's use of an application to "spy" on users. 

The cross-party group has reported that Facebook used its Onavo virtual private network (VPN) app to gather information on competitors. 

The Members of Parliament claim Facebook "intentionally and knowingly violated both data privacy and anti-competition laws". 

The report which is 100 pages long, also details the influence of fake news on the site in elections. 

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee wrote that through the use of Onavo, which was promoted as a way to give users an extra layer of security, Facebook had access to "collect app usage data from its customers to assess not only how many people had downloaded apps, but how often they used them". 

The Members of Parliament claim Facebook "intentionally and knowingly violated both data privacy and anti-competition laws". 

The report which is 100 pages long, also details the influence of fake news on the site in elections. 

In addition, the report included: "This knowledge helped them to decide which companies were performing well and therefore gave them invaluable data on possible competitors. They could then acquire those companies, or shut down those they judged to be a threat." 

A graph the committee includeed in the report shows an analysis of data collected with Onavo, detailing how regularly apps were used by Facebook owned and competitor’s services.

Source: Link